Shots fired at Cannes film festival, actors flee for cover

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 17: A man is taken away by the police after the reported sounds of gunshots were heard in front of the Martinez Hotel beach on May 17, 2013 in Cannes France.

By Matthias Galante, Reuters

CANNES, France -- A man was arrested at the Cannes film festival on Friday after firing a starting pistol during a live TV broadcast on the palm-lined waterfront, sending actors Christoph Waltz and Daniel Auteuil running for cover.

French TV station Canal+ was interviewing Austria's Oscar-winning Waltz and French actor Auteuil live on its nightly news show from a beach-front set before a crowd of spectators when a man fired two shots into the air.

"The bodyguards jumped over the barriers into the crowd and pulled him to the ground. The police arrived and told everyone to run because there was a grenade in his hand," witness Arthur Laiguesse told Reuters.

Raw video shows police in France rushing to arrest a homeless man who is accused of causing panic at the annual film festival in Cannes with a pellet gun and a fake grenade.

Police arrested the man at the scene and found he was carrying a dummy grenade and a knife, authorities said.

"It really appears to be a crazy guy," said a police source.

After the man was taken away, the show's producers told the crowd the program would continue: "The show must go on."

Waltz, who has won two best supporting actor Oscars for "Django Unchained" and "Inglourious Basterds", and Auteuil, both of whom are serving on the Cannes jury, returned to the set.

The shooting was the second security incident on day three of the 12-day festival, the world's largest cinema showcase that attracts thousands of actors, directors, film executives, journalists and fans.

A police source said $1.4 million worth of Chopard jewelry intended to adorn movie stars had been stolen from a room at the Suite Novotel hotel overnight on Thursday.

But Chopard said the value had been exaggerated and the items were not for actresses to use, declining to give further details.